Breaking up with Peevski

A COUNTRY whose patron saint is Ivan Rilski, a hermit, Bulgaria has a tradition of introspection and withdrawal dating back to the Middle Ages that has at times led to the rejection of any temporal structure, including the entire world of politics. Five centuries of Ottoman rule and four decades of communist dictatorship didn’t help but today apathy and withdrawal from political affairs seem to be a thing of the past. Over the past three months tens of thousands of Bulgarians have taken to the streets daily. An estimated 10% of the electorate have joined the protests, which are backed by 51% of those surveyed in a recent poll.

The protesters’ main demand is the resignation of the entire government, which they feel has forfeited the public’s trust. The protesters have strong arguments: the government should not get away with the (subsequently revoked) nomination of Deylan Peevski, a media mogul, as head of the national security agency. They point at politicians in other European Union (EU) countries, such as the Czech prime minister of the German president, who had to resign over far smaller misdemeanours. The government depends on an unholy coalition of Ataka, a far-right party, the party of the Turkish minority (which the xenophobic Ataka used to denigrate) and BSP, the reformed Communist Party. It continues to rely on Mr Peevski’s media group for...Continue reading